The Columbia, S.C., man had been living quietly with his wife of 40 years,
giving her and their neighbors no indication before his January arrest that
he had a criminal past.

Under a plea deal, rape, robbery and kidnapping charges were dropped, and
Mason agreed to be sentenced immediately. Superior Court Judge David S.
Wesley sentenced him to two consecutive life terms for the killings of El
Segundo officers Milton Curtis, 25, and Richard Phillips, 28.

The officers were shot to death on July 22, 1957, by a man they had pulled
over for running a red light. About 90 minutes earlier, two 15-year-old girls
and their dates were robbed by a gunman who tied them up, sexually assaulted
a girl, stole watches, jewelry and cash, forced the victims to undress and
drove off in one boy's 1949 Ford.

In court Monday, a bald and aged Mason stood before the families of the slain
men and at least a dozen members of the El Segundo police department who
turned out for the hearing, as did District Attorney Steve Cooley and Sheriff
Lee Baca.

"I feel like I am dreaming," Mason said. "It makes no sense.
It's contrary to everything I believe.
"...At no other time in my life have I intentionally harmed
anyone," he said.

The children of the slain men told Mason of the grief their families have
endured in more than 45 years without their fathers.

"Your cowardly act shattered our lives," said Carolyn Phillips, who
spoke of her mother's struggle to raise three children on her own.

"She grieved for him every day," Phillips said. "...Since that
time you had 45 years to raise your children and to know and love your
grandchildren. You stole from him the right to see us grow, to know and love
his grandchildren. And you stole our right to know him. For all this we
cannot and will not forgive you."

Keith Curtis, the son of the other slain officer, said he was grateful to
authorities for bringing Mason to justice at a time when he felt that all
hope was lost. He said he regretted that one of his brothers died last year
before he could see his father's killer brought to justice.

Mason said he had anguished over what to say in court and concluded that
"the depth of my regret exceeds my ability to express it."

He spoke of "that terrible, stupid and horrid day" when the
shooting happened. He told the families: "Please forgive me. Do not be
bitter."

Deputy District Attorney Darren Levine said that his office is willing to
have Mason serve his sentence in South Carolina, which the defendant had
asked for.

The case languished until police got a tip last September that someone had
bragged about the killings. The lead was false but it prompted a review in
which the FBI's fingerprint database matched prints from the stolen car to
Mason, who had done jail time for a 1956 burglary conviction in South
Carolina.

The Columbia, S.C., man had been living quietly with his wife of 40 years,
giving her and their neighbors no indication before his January arrest that
he had a criminal past.

Under a plea deal, rape, robbery and kidnapping charges were dropped, and
Mason agreed to be sentenced immediately. Superior Court Judge David S.
Wesley sentenced him to two consecutive life terms for the killings of El
Segundo officers Milton Curtis, 25, and Richard Phillips, 28.

The officers were shot to death on July 22, 1957, by a man they had pulled
over for running a red light. About 90 minutes earlier, two 15-year-old girls
and their dates were robbed by a gunman who tied them up, sexually assaulted
a girl, stole watches, jewelry and cash, forced the victims to undress and
drove off in one boy's 1949 Ford.

In court Monday, a bald and aged Mason stood before the families of the slain
men and at least a dozen members of the El Segundo police department who
turned out for the hearing, as did District Attorney Steve Cooley and Sheriff
Lee Baca.

"I feel like I am dreaming," Mason said. "It makes no sense.
It's contrary to everything I believe.
"...At no other time in my life have I intentionally harmed
anyone," he said.

The children of the slain men told Mason of the grief their families have
endured in more than 45 years without their fathers.

"Your cowardly act shattered our lives," said Carolyn Phillips, who
spoke of her mother's struggle to raise three children on her own.

"She grieved for him every day," Phillips said. "...Since that
time you had 45 years to raise your children and to know and love your
grandchildren. You stole from him the right to see us grow, to know and love
his grandchildren. And you stole our right to know him. For all this we
cannot and will not forgive you."

Keith Curtis, the son of the other slain officer, said he was grateful to
authorities for bringing Mason to justice at a time when he felt that all
hope was lost. He said he regretted that one of his brothers died last year
before he could see his father's killer brought to justice.

Mason said he had anguished over what to say in court and concluded that
"the depth of my regret exceeds my ability to express it."

He spoke of "that terrible, stupid and horrid day" when the
shooting happened. He told the families: "Please forgive me. Do not be
bitter."

Deputy District Attorney Darren Levine said that his office is willing to
have Mason serve his sentence in South Carolina, which the defendant had
asked for.

The case languished until police got a tip last September that someone had
bragged about the killings. The lead was false but it prompted a review in
which the FBI's fingerprint database matched prints from the stolen car to
Mason, who had done jail time for a 1956 burglary conviction in South
Carolina.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

File
date: Monday, March 24, 2003

1-29-03UPDATEArrest
Made in 45-Year-Old Murder CaseFingerprint
checks finally lead to Gerald Fiten Mason, 68, of South Carolina, accused of
fatally shooting two El Segundo police officers in 1957.

A South Carolina man was arrested today for investigation of
killing two El Segundo police officers 45 years ago after allegedly raping and
robbing couples at a lovers lane.

Gerald Fiten Mason, 68, apparently led a "very well-adjusted, normal
life" in the years after the 1957 attack and was arrested without
resistance at his home in Columbia, S.C., Los Angeles County Sheriff's Capt.
Frank Merriman said.

"For all I know, this could be the ultimate 'scared straight,'"
Merriman said, referring to a program in which youngsters are taken to talk to
convicts in the hope that it will deter them from committing crimes.

Fingerprints taken from a stolen car on the night of the killings were traced
to Mason through a new FBI database, authorities said.

They were linked to Mason through what authorities believe was his only
criminal conviction for a 1956 burglary in South Carolina.

"The message is that we in law enforcement never give up," said
Sheriff Lee Baca, whose cold case unit helped investigate.

The officers "can now rest in peace with the knowledge that the killer has
been caught," Baca said at a news conference.

Mason was charged Friday by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
with two counts of murder along with rape, kidnapping and robbery.

The officers were killed after pulling over a motorist for running a red light.

Milton Curtis, 25, and Richard Phillips, 28, were shot on July 22, 1957, in El
Segundo, a suburb 14 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.